Cleo's Mum
by MooDiggory
Summary: We all know that Cleo Sertori's parents separated. But does anyone know why? FYI, story based on Don and Bev knowing that Cleo is a mermaid. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

"Cleo!" Kim stood outside the bathroom, banging her fist on the door. "Come on, Cleo! The rest of us need the bathroom too, you can't just keep hogging it all day long!"

"Go away," Cleo replied angrily, "just use Mom and Dad's bathroom or wait! I'll only be a minute longer."

Pulling herself out of the bath with her arms, Cleo landed on the floor with a thud. She grabbed the fluffy blue towel off the hamper and started drying herself off. When her tail finally disappeared and she had two normal legs again, she stood up and started brushing her hair. She knew she should be hurrying so her younger sister could get ready for school, but she couldn't help rolling her eyes and taking an extra moment to decide whether to put her hair in a ponytail or wear a headband.

"I'm telling Mum!" Kim ran downstairs shouting. "Mum, Cleo won't get out of the bathroom and I need to shower! We're supposed to share and I'm going to be late for school because _she _thinks she's the most important person in the world!"

Bev Sertori was tired of her daughters arguing and had finally had enough. A glance at her husband's expression told her that he felt the same. She threw her dish towel on the counter and marched upstairs, stopping in front of the girls' bathroom door.

"Cleo," she snapped, "your sister needs to get ready for school as well. You've got that vanity in your bedroom for a reason, you can do your hair there."

Finished with her hair, Cleo rolled her eyes and reached for the door handle, not noticing the puddle of water from the tub that she was about to step in. The moment she felt the water on the bottom of her foot, she spun to grab the towel. Instead, she fell into the bath tub with a _splash_.

"Oh goodness," Bev cried, "Cleo honey, are you alright?"

"Fine Mum," Cleo glared at the door as she tried to pull herself out of the tub again.

"Cleo, I'm coming in."

"Mum! No! I'll...um...I'll just be a moment, I promise!"

Cleo began to panic as she heard her mother jimmying the lock from the outside. The doorknob turned...she struggled to dry off quicker...

"My god!" Bev stared in horror at the orange tail. "What the bloody hell is this?"

"I can explain-" Cleo cut her response short as Kim and their father appeared, "oh, great, this is going to be a picnic."

Don ushered Kim back downstairs when the obnoxious girl started making comments about "the freak they had exposed her to all these years". Bev stared as Cleo finished drying off, and followed her silently downstairs.


	2. Chapter 2

The Sertori family gathered in the living room, all eyes on Cleo. She stared at the floor, fidgeting slightly, unsure of how to explain the situation. Her father had already called the school and said Cleo and Kim would be absent for the day.

"Well," Don finally spoke, "we expect an explanation, young lady."

"Um," Cleo looked around, wishing a hole would open up in the floor and swallow her whole, "well you see, it started when Zane pushed me out in the harbor on his boat. Someone had taken a spark plug so it wouldn't start, and he tricked me into getting on the boat. He pushed it out and laughed at me, and out of nowhere Rikki jumped down into the boat with me. She'd had the spark plug all along, and when she put it back in and started the boat, she decided to go round the harbor with it for a bit. We saw Emma and she got in with us, and Rikki thought it'd be fun to go out into the ocean."

"You should have known better than to go into the ocean in that thing with an unlicensed girl!" Don exclaimed, momentarily forgetting the point of the story. Cleo smiled apologetically and continued.

"Well, we got out into the ocean and the engine died. The closest place we could paddle to was Mako Island. We explored it a bit, looking for a place Emma could get reception on her mobile. I fell down a hole in some rocks and Emma came down after me. Rikki was supposed to stay up top and throw down a rope or something, but she followed Emma. We walked through the cave a bit and found a pool. Emma said it connected to the sea, because it was rising and falling. She went into the pool and swam down to find an opening, and she did. Rikki and I got into the water with Emma, and it kind of bubbled, but we didn't know what it meant. We all swam down-"

"What are you talking about," Kim interjected, "you can't swim, you hate water! You won't even do your share of the dishes!"

"Quiet, Kim!" Bev snapped. "Go on, Cleo."

"I _couldn't_ swim then, but Rikki held on to me and swam while I held my breath. We got out of the cave and up to the surface, and the water police were there. They brought us back to shore. We all went home, and thought we'd hang out the next day. I took a bath first though, and ten seconds after I got in, I grew a tail!"

Don put his head in his hands. "So you're...and Rikki and Emma are...you're _fish_?"

"Mermaids, Dad. And that's why we get strange during the full moon. There's something about it that, if we look at it, makes us crazy."

Nobody had noticed Kim stand up and go into the kitchen. When she came back, she threw a glass of water on her sister, a terrible smirk on her face as Cleo's tail appeared. "Wait until everyone at school hears my sister is a _freak_! Nobody'll want to be your friend then, and they'll all feel sorry for me."


End file.
